Safety applique

ABSTRACT

A decorative safety tread applique for use on the floor surfaces of bathtubs, showers and the like. The applique is provided with a slip-preventing upper surface and has at least one laterally extending row of indicia-shaped openings therethrough arranged so as to be engageable by the feet of the user to further preclude accidental slipping. For purposes of advertising, the indiciashaped openings may be arranged to form the name of a business or the like. The floor of the bathtub or shower which is visible through the indicia-shaped openings provides a permanent, highly attractive and eye-catching background.

United States atent [191 Freese 1 SAFETY APPLIQUE [76] Inventor: MartinP. Freese, 3833 Ingraham St., San Diego, Calif. 92109 [22] Filed: Aug.15, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 280,781

[52] US. Cl. 161/19, 4/185 F, D6/209 [51] Int. Cl A0ln 1/00 [58] Fieldof Search 161/19, 167, 406 T, 138, 161/247; D6/209; 4/185 F [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,375,177 2/1942 Reese 161/406 T3,030,251 4/1962 LaBore et a1. 161/167 3,031,324 4/1962 Jankowskil6l/406T 3,633,221 l/1972 Addison 161/247 OTHER PUBLICATIONS GallagherFoster House Holiday Gifts (1970-1971), p. 52.

[ Sept. 17, 1974 Primary Examiner-William E. Schulz Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Whann & McManigal [5 7 ABSTRACT A decorative safety tread appliquefor use on the floor surfaces of bathtubs, showers and the like. Theapplique is provided with a slip-preventing upper surface and has atleast one laterally extending row of indiciashaped openings therethrougharranged so as to be engageable by the feet of the user to furtherpreclude accidental slipping. For purposes of advertising, theindicia-shaped openings may be arranged to form the name of a businessor the like. The floor of the bathtub or shower which is visible throughthe indiciashaped openings provides a permanent, highly attractive andeye-catching background.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SAFETY APPLIQUE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates todecorative, slippreventing safety appliques and more particularly tosafety appliques adapted to be applied to the floors of bathtubs,showers and the like.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art Various types of decorative appliques foruse in bathtubs and showers have been developed and are commerciallyavailable. These appliques generally rely on some type of corrugatedupper surface to provide traction and thereby prevent slipping by theuser of the tub or shower.

The novel applique of my invention, while providing a slip-preventingcorrugated or roughened upper surface, also provides a secondaryslip-preventing means in the form of laterally disposed rows of openingsextending through the applique. These openings are arranged so as to becontacted by the feet of the user of the tub or shower and areconstructed so as to define a plurality of irregularly-shaped rightangle edge portions at the surface of the applique which tend to gripthe soles of the feet of the user in a manner as to provide excellenttraction.

By forming the openings in the applique so that they extend completelythrough it, when the applique is in position the floor of the tub orshower provides a permanent and attractive background for the openings.When the openings are configured in the shape of indicia such as lettersor numbers, the applique may also serve as a novel and attractiveadvertising medium. For example, when the indicia-shaped openings are inthe form of letters arranged to spell out a business name or the like,the floor of the tub or shower highlights the name and makes itimmediately noticeable by the user of the tub or shower.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide anovel slippreventing safety tread applique for use in combination withthe floor of a bathtub or shower in which the upper surface of theapplique is corrugated to prevent slipping and in which secondaryslip-preventing means are provided in the form ofa plurality ofindicia-shaped openings extending through the applique.

It is another object of the invention to provide a safety applique ofthe type described in the preceding paragraph in which theindicia-shaped openings are arranged in rows extending laterally of theapplique so as to define a plurality of edge portions engageable by thefeet of the user of the tub or shower so as to provide superior tractionand prevent accidental slipping.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety applique ofthe aforementioned character in which the indicia are arranged to formthe name of a business or the like and in which the applique is affixedto the floor of a bathtub or shower so that the floor forms a permanentbackground for the indicia-shaped openings.

It is another object of the invention to provide a safety applique asdescribed in the previous paragraph in which the indicia are formed bydie cutting and in which the cut-out portions may be affixed to thefloor of the bathtub or shower to form an ornamental design or to formletters and numbers for advertising purposes.

It is another object of my invention to provide a safety applique inwhich particulate material is impregnated within the body of theapplique granules ofwhich protrude above the plane of the upper surfaceof the applique so that the granules in cooperation with the edgeportions of the indicia-shaped openings form a highly efficientslip-resistant surface.

These and other objects of my invention are achieved by a safety treadapplique for use in combination with the floor of a bathtub or showerwhich comprises at least one layer of sheet material having aslip-resistant upper surface and a plurality of indicia-shaped openingstherethrough and a coating of water-resistant adhesive materialdeposited on the lower surface of the sheet material for bonding thesheet material to the floor of the tub or shower so that the applique isheld securely in place thereon with the floor being visible through theindicia-shaped openings formed in the applique.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of one form ofthe applique of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1 showingthe applique as it appears when affixed to the floor of a bathtub orshower;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of another form of applique of my invention havingparticulate material impregnated in the body of the applique; and FIG. 4is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 44 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 ofthe drawings, one form of slip-preventing safety tread applique of myinvention, generally designated by the numeral 10, can be seen tocomprise a layer of sheet material 12 having a plurality ofindicia-shaped openings 14 extending therethrough. The upwardlyprotruding face 16 of the sheet material is provided with aslip-resistant surface shown here as comprising a plurality ofcorrugations 18 (FIG. 2) formed in the upper surface of the material. Acoating of water-resistant adhesive material identified by the numeral20 and of a type commercially available and well known in the art isdeposited on the lower surface of the sheet material. The adhesivefunctions to bond the sheet material to the floor 22 of a bathtub,shower or the like so that the sheet material is securely held in placethereon with the floor being visible through the openings in thematerial.

I have found various materials to be satisfactory for use inconstructing the applique of my invention but have obtained best resultsusing a yieldable but durable soft rubber or plastic material such asvinyl plastic. For safety reasons it is desirable that the applique beconstructed so as to have a width greater than one-half the width of thebottom of a standard size bathtub. Also to provide maximum traction toprevent slipping, the indicia-shaped openings should be of a sufficientsize and should be arranged in laterally extending rows at least one ofwhich rows of indicia extends substantially across the lateral width ofthe sheet material so that at least a portion of one indicia-shapedopening is contacted by each foot of the user of the bathtub or showerwhen standing therein. When more than one applique is to be used in thetub or shower, smaller appliques can, of course, be used and arranged tosubstantially extend across the width of the tub or shower.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the indicia-shaped openings 14 formed in thelayer of sheet material have edge walls 24 disposed in a substantiallyperpendicular relationship with the plane of the upper surface of thesheet material so as to form a plurality of irregularly-shaped indiciaedge portions 26 for engagement by the feet of the user of the tub orshower. These edge portions tend to grip the soles of the feet of theuser, thereby providing excellent traction and preventing accidentalslipping.

The appliques of my invention can, of course, be constructed in a widevariety of shapes and various indiciashaped openings formedtherethrough. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the indicia may take the formof letters and numbers arranged to form a business name and telephonenumber. When the applique is in position within the tub or shower, thefloor thereof is visible through the openings and provides a permanent,highly attractive and eye-catching background for the name of thecompany. In this way the applique not only functions as a novel safetydevice but provides a unique advertising medium as well.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 there is shown another form of safety applique of myinvention comprising a layer of sheet material which is impregnated withparticulate material 32, portions of the granules of which extend abovethe plane of the upper surface of the sheet material so as to present aroughened surface to prevent slipping. This embodiment of the inventionalso includes a plurality of indicia-shaped openings 34 extendingtherethrough. These openings are arranged in laterally extending rows,have vertically disposed side walls 36, and serve the same purposes andare of the same general construction as those discussed in thepreviously described embodiment.

Sheet material 30 may be a soft rubber or plastic material susceptibleof being impregnated with particulate material such as fine sand,sawdust, ground walnut shells or various types of light reflecting andphosphorescent chemical compounds in particulate form. For decorative aswell as safety purposes I have found the use of both light reflectingand phosphorescent material quite satisfactory and attractive. The lightreflection or phosphorescence of the granules of materialprotrudingiabove the surface of the sheet material creates a mostunusual and novel effect'in conjunction with the background for theindicia-shaped openings formed by the floor of the tub or shower.

A water-resistant adhesive 38 of a type well known in the prior art isused to affix the applique to the floor 40 of the tub or shower. As inthe case of the previously described embodiment, the applique should beof sufficient width to provide a base upon which the user of the tub orshower may stand, or alternately several smaller appliques should beused. At least one row of the indicia-shaped openings should extendsubstantially across the sheet material so as to provide a plurality ofirregularly-shaped upper indicia wall edges to grip the feet of the userto provide traction and prevent slipping.

I claim: I

1. In combination with the floor of a bathtub a slippreventing safetytread applique comprising:

a. a layer of material having a plurality of indiciashaped openingsextending therethrough, said'indicia-shaped openings being arranged inlaterally extending rows at least one of which rows of indicia extendssubstantially across said layer of material so that at least oneindicia-shaped opening is contacted by each foot of the user of thebathtub when standing therein and in which said indicia-shaped openingshave edge walls disposed in a substantially perpendicular relationshipwith the plane of the upper surface of said layer of material so as toform a plurality of indicia edge portions for engagement by the feet ofthe user of the bathtub to prevent slipping, said material beingprovided with a slip-resistant upper surface; and

b. adhesive material deposited on the lower surface of said layer ofmaterial, said adhesive material being adapted to bond said material tothe floor of the bathtub so that the material is securely held in placethereon with the floor being visible through the openings therethrough.

2. A safety tread applique as defined in claim 1 in which said materialhas a plurality of corrugations formed on the upper surface thereof forfurther preventing slipping by the user of the bathtub.

3. A safety tread applique as defined in claim 1 in which said materialis impregnated with a particulate material, portions of the granules ofwhich extend above the plane of the upper surface of said sheet materialso as to present a roughened surface for further preventing slipping bythe user of the bathtub.

1. In combination with the floor of a bathtub a slip-preventing safetytread applique comprising: a. a layer of material having a plurality ofindicia-shaped openings extending therethrough, said indicia-shapedopenings being arranged in laterally extending rows at least one ofwhich rows of indicia extends substantially across said layer ofmaterial so that at least one indicia-shaped opening is contacted byeach foot of the user of the bathtub when standing therein and in whichsaid indicia-shaped openings have edge walls disposed in a substantiallyperpendicular relationship with the plane of the upper surface of saidlayer of material so as to form a plurality of indicia edge portions forengagement by the feet of the user of the bathtub to prevent slipping,said material being provided with a slip-resistant upper surface; and b.adhesive material deposited on the lower surface of said layer ofmaterial, said adhesive material being adapted to bond said material tothe floor of the bathtub so that the material is securely held in placethereon with the floor being visible through The openings therethrough.2. A safety tread applique as defined in claim 1 in which said materialhas a plurality of corrugations formed on the upper surface thereof forfurther preventing slipping by the user of the bathtub.
 3. A safetytread applique as defined in claim 1 in which said material isimpregnated with a particulate material, portions of the granules ofwhich extend above the plane of the upper surface of said sheet materialso as to present a roughened surface for further preventing slipping bythe user of the bathtub.